User talk:Aleal
Hi Andrew! Hey, it's nice to have some more Flash Gordon knowledge here. :) One of these days I need to change the main page of this wiki to be more about the serial and comics than the TV show... -- Danny (talk) 17:45, March 8, 2011 (UTC) :Thanks! Yeah, the pic on Prince Barin doesn't even seem to even be from the show, just of the actor. And NetFlix just made the three serials available for Instant Viewing, which thus makes it a lot easier to mine. I also have actors from the Superman serials and 50s TV series on my to-do list for the Superman Wiki, so my eventual goal is to be able to do some cross-linking (John Hamilton, TV's Perry White, played Professor Gordon in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe!) -- Andrew Leal (talk) 19:19, March 8, 2011 (UTC) Credits geek Thank you for finding out who played Lawrence Gordon! It's been frustrating me for weeks that I couldn't find out who played this pivotal role. He was in this week's episode too, and he didn't get a credit at the start of the show. Now I'm happy, yay! I realized that I didn't answer your question below... I'd be happy with either "Spoofs" or "References". If you feel like taking a whack at it, you can call the category anything you like. It would be great to have some of that stuff. -- Danny (talk) 13:00, 13 September 2007 (UTC) Hi It's good to see you on this wiki today... I could use the help over here. -- Danny (talk) 20:30, 2 September 2007 (UTC) :Yeah, I finally got around to adding Defenders of the Earth, as a start anyway. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 20:42, 2 September 2007 (UTC) ::Nice, it looks great. Now we need pages on Rick Gordon and Steve the Merciless, or whatever their names are. :) -- Danny (talk) 20:44, 2 September 2007 (UTC) :::Yeah; I like Steve the Merciless better than the name they actually used. Also, what would be a good category name to cover parodies or references? Just "Spoofs"? Since there's Flesh Gordon and its sequel, naturally, plus an inordinate number of children's series have had one-shot Ming take-offs, from DuckTales (Ping the Pitiless) to The Letter People (Mung the Merciless). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 20:50, 2 September 2007 (UTC) Voice chasing Hey babe: A new contributor, Zephyrad, added a couple albums -- Flash Gordon Volume 1 and Flash Gordon Volume 2. He said that he wished he knew who did which voice, so I thought I would ask if you could get a lead on it... -- Danny (talk) 01:22, 28 August 2007 (UTC) :Not much I can do, really. With the sole exception of Michael Greer (a comic actor mostly known for playing drag queens and the like; one of his later roles was a guest voice on Darkwing Duck as "Mona Lisa's Lips," who sounded like a husky male voice doing Bette Davis), the others named seem to have done no known work outside of Wonderland records, and a few stage productions, and nepotism seems to be involved as much as acting talent (with Richard Goemann presumably related to Bob Goemann, album "conceiver"). Greer had a distinctive voice, so chances are if any character sounds lightly raspy, melodromatic. or "campily" villainous, it might be him (though that said, I've never heard him "play straight," and thus might not recognize him if he did.) Oh, and William Shust was in at least one Dark Shadows episode as a Dr. Stevens, so you'd have better luck there, *if* Zephyrad can make sound files of the album or otherwise share it. The rest, only way to come up with anything would be sound file comparisons with other Wonderland records; all save Greer and Carol Leslie were heard in the Wonderland Hardy Boys record, and a Close Encounters of the Third Kind album, which had a full cast listing. That's about all that can be done there, and unless Zephyrad has the other records, it'sout of our depth. Wonderland's "voice talent" roster, outside of the presence of minor OTR vet Herb Duncan, on the whole seems to have been somewhere below Peter Pan; not like the Disneyland or Capital recordings, who used established voices one could recognize and trace. :Right now, I'm trying to see if I can get a hold of Filmation's 1982 Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All special... in English, anyway. A two hour TV special, *after* the Flash Gordon cartoon series was canceled, it was basically the origin episode which the series had, and while a few voice actors reprised their roles, others were involved (such as Ted "Lurch" Cassidy and Vic Perrin, one of my favorites, a radio pro who was the control voice on Outer Limits), but print references, websites, and of course the ever fallible IMDb all contradict each other as to who played who, seemingly mixing and matching at random. Sorting that's out a heck of a lot more feasible than the Wonderland conundrum, though. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 04:03, 28 August 2007 (UTC) Escape to Earth! Any luck finding details on that last episode? Caswin 19:08, 15 August 2007 (UTC) :Nope. If anything turns up, I'll let you know. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 04:04, 28 August 2007 (UTC) Syndicated series Yay, thanks for adding stuff to the Flash Gordon (syndicated) page! The Sci Fi show starts in a few weeks, so I'm excited about getting a nice base of stuff from the past before the new episodes take all the focus. You're the best. -- Danny (talk) 15:45, 23 July 2007 (UTC) Performer boxes You're right about the performer boxes. They look weird. I took them down. I'll put them back up once the new show starts, and they're relevant. -- Danny (talk) 19:00, 8 June 2007 (UTC) :Yeah. The more I've thought about it, while I still think it would be odd to use it exclusively for characters from one series (who have had many performers) and not those from serials or cartoons who only had one performer, it probably wouldn't bother me as much once you have screengrabs. Right now, seeing a box for Jody whatsit above a strip for Dr. Hans Zarkov, and then a serial right below that, is disorienting, and without clicking the link (my other problem with it) or scrolling much further down, there's no way to know when or in what context Racinot played the role (which also makes it easier, as I noticed happened briefly, to just stick in some other actor's name, since it about makes the same difference). While I still don't like the privileging, it could be very effective once you have screengrabs for everyone (though actually, once it really grows, I think a better way to handle it would be to have a block discussing the basic character traits, and then a short section on each incarnation, the performers, and how they were changed, especially in cases like the new Ming the Merciless where a fairly radical change seems to be happening, and if needed, stick a performer box for each section, or something). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 23:18, 8 June 2007 (UTC) ::Hmm, that's an interesting idea, to have a different performer box for each section. I guess that might happen as the pages grow. I'm working right now to get some more basic content up... I've done all the chapters for the first serial, and now I have to get back to some comic strip stuff for a while. -- Danny (talk) 02:32, 9 June 2007 (UTC) Stop the clock Here's another oddity; maybe you can help me figure out what to do with it. It's a gauge that Zarkov uses in chapter 108. I can't make heads or tails out of what it's supposed to represent. The numbers are apparently marked in Earth numerals as well as Mongo numerals. But why? Is it a translation? And why are the Earth numbers bigger? And why are the Mongo numbers so damn complicated to write? Look how much effort it takes to write a 4! Anyway, I think this could be used to some amusing effect somewhere on the wiki, but I can't figure out where. Any thoughts from the Mongo peanut gallery? -- Danny (talk) 03:37, 6 June 2007 (UTC) :Well, once Mongo is fleshed out more, it could go in a section on culture and science. At some point, I hope to either rent or purchase the serials, since a more in-depth "China" version of the Mongo page would be beautiful, and heaven knows there's plenty of material out there (the present page is also fun, though). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 03:44, 6 June 2007 (UTC) ::Yeah, I'm slowly collecting info for that as I go. It should definitely develop into a "China" style page. I'd like to do something similar for Earth, too, if I can find the material. ::You should definitely rent/buy the serials -- they're so much fun. Lots of energy, lots of surprises. It's a huge step up from any other serial. ::The only disappointment is Dale, who's completely vacuous. I was just watching chapter 110, and there's a scene where Zarkov suddenly receives a response to the radio signals that he's sent to Earth. He gets all excited and says, Earth is calling back! So Dale rushes to a telescope and looks in it. Then we see a shot of Earth, through the telescope. The impression that we're left with is that Dale expected to look through the telescope and see somebody on Earth waving at her. -- Danny (talk) 22:15, 6 June 2007 (UTC) Nice couch Hey, speaking of Aura, isn't this just the most fabulous picture? In the first ep of the cartoon series, Aura takes Flash, Dale &c. prisoner, and takes them in a rocket to Ming's palace. Everybody else stands around awkwardly while she lounges on this. Now that is royal style. -- Danny (talk) 23:20, 5 June 2007 (UTC) :I'm trying not to think too hard about what alien species was slaughtered to make that couch. By the way, I'm trying to dig up bits and pieces about the source comic, and it turns out the final daily strip in 1993 simply had Flash deciding to just go fishing. That amuses me. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 23:32, 5 June 2007 (UTC) ::That's awesome! I want a scan of that. I've learned many amusing things so far. The Electro-stimulator is fun, especially when you look at the Google ads on that page. You should also check out my running tally of how many times Dale passes out in the serials -- so far I'm up to 7 faints, in 9 chapters. And she looked a little wobbly at the end of chapter 9, so I have high hopes. -- Danny (talk) 23:37, 5 June 2007 (UTC) Radio titles Hey babe: The episode titles that I have for the 1935 radio serial are sort of strange -- from what I can tell, they were made up by an OTR collector, and then copied by other OTR people, and now they're all over the internet. Do you know if there would be more "official" episode titles, or did radio shows in 1935 just not have episode titles? -- Danny (talk) 12:50, 3 June 2007 (UTC) :You pretty much hit the nail on the head. For the most part, "titles," especially for comedies and serials, didn't exist (even among the writers, usually) and so shorthand has been developed for trading purposes. Anthology series always had individual titles, and *most* drama series did (some, like Gunsmoke, had official titles used by writers and in radio listings of the time and such, but weren't spoken on air). But Flash Gordon didn't. One of the best resources for this is David Goldin's RadioGOLDindex. Since he no longer actively trades or sells, his logs are for research only, and he never makes up titles. If they're there, they were used in the on-air copy. If not, he uses "Program #1" and so forth to mark the chronology for serials. See here. I'd suggest we do the same, just numbers and dates, and eventually synopses which would explain the content better than the made-up titles do. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 13:05, 3 June 2007 (UTC) ::Okay, that's what I suspected. I agree, that's what we should do -- I'll change the radio page. -- Danny (talk) 13:29, 3 June 2007 (UTC) :::Okay, I replaced the titles with descriptions... -- Danny (talk) 16:29, 3 June 2007 (UTC) Animated series Hey dude: I added some more info, and a few screenshots, to Flash Gordon (animated series). I'm baffled by the variations in the title, though. Check out the footnote. Do you know if there's any consensus on what to call the series? Was the onscreen title "Flash Gordon"? -- Danny (talk) 13:57, 29 May 2007 (UTC) :I'll check the reference books when I get the chance, but I think you've handld it as best as possible. It seems to reflect two problems: one, a common tendency for older series' titles to become garbled in the internet age or through unreliable reference books from the pre-home video era, and two, Filmation. Filmation had a dreadful habit of renaming/re-packaing their shows (their Archie series ran under at least half a dozen titles, my own favorite of which is Archie's Bang-Shang-a-Lang Lollapalooza), and the majority (though not all) of their shows based on pre-existing properties had "The New Adventures" in the title. That was as much a Filmation trademark as re-tracing footage of Jughead. Right now, I think you've handled it as best as possible. It's also worth noting that in a fall 1976 press release, when the project was first announced for the 1978-1979 season, the title was simply Flash Gordon. So I think it's handled fairly well. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 02:55, 30 May 2007 (UTC) ::So the title card said Flash Gordon, right? The one thing I wasn't sure about was whether that could have been altered for the DVD set. -- Danny (talk) 03:01, 30 May 2007 (UTC) :::By the way, do you know anybody who might be interested in this wiki, or a good place to promote it? I'd like to get some more contributors... -- Danny (talk) 03:03, 30 May 2007 (UTC) ::::Yeah, as far as I know, and I'll continue to check, the title card wasn't altered. As for venyes for promotion, I honestly don't know off the top of my head. Though it might be a good idea to mention it in various comic strip forums (those for the Comics Journal, or possibly even Comics Curmudgeon). I'll look into it in more depth later. Also, can we change "Animated Actors" to "Animated Voice Actors?" Animated Actors just sounds weird, and there will be more to come from the 90s series and Defenders of the Earth. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 03:08, 30 May 2007 (UTC) :::::Oh, good thought. I'll change that. I'm glad you expanded the voice cast list on that page, too. And yeah, if you're involved in any comics forums, it would be cool if you could mention the wiki there. (Obviously, it's better for a current member to post about a wiki than a stranger.) :::::Also, here's an odd thing -- the credits for the cartoon list "Allen Oppenheimer" and "Allen Melvin", even though the info on IMDB says Alan Oppenheimer and Allan Melvin. Any thoughts on that? -- Danny (talk) 11:53, 30 May 2007 (UTC) ::::::Again, Filmation. TV cartoon credits, especially then and especially with voice actors, tend to be rife with typos, and since the same credit roll is used for every episode, they don't get fixed. Feel free to note the variants, but they don't mean anything, just mistakes. The only variant that isn't a mistake is the fact that Ridgely was sometimes billed as Bob (what his friends all called him, it seems), more often as Robert. I'll try to get some pics at some point (Ridgely was in a ton of films, including Blazing Saddles as the hangman, and other Mel Brooks movies). Oh, and Diane Pershing now writes romance novels. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 12:26, 30 May 2007 (UTC) ::::::::Oh, fab. That's crazy about the typos. I don't think you could get away with that today; somebody would sue. -- Danny (talk) 15:44, 30 May 2007 (UTC) "Flash" Leal Hey, Andrew! I was wondering if you might want to come over here, what with the comic and cartoon versions of Flash Gordon, and stuff like that. I'm trying to piece together radio show records and movie soundtracks. See you later! (And if you have any more free time that?, maybe you can help with Superman?) -- Ken (talk) 02:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC) Bruno Wick It's great to have a photo of Bruno Wick, but that's a pretty obvious watermark... -- Danny (talk) 23:02, 25 May 2007 (UTC) :On the new image? Take a look. I thought I got it off. I don't see anything but age marks. I edited around the watermark. If not, I'll ask Scott if he'd be willing to deal with it when he comes back. It did come from an auction site, and thus might not even be available for very long. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 23:03, 25 May 2007 (UTC) ::No, those big swoops are part of a watermark. Yeah, if you can ask Scott for help, that would be cool. -- Danny (talk) 11:53, 29 May 2007 (UTC) Yay! Yay, I knew I could sucker you into coming here. You're wonderful. -- Danny (talk) 21:39, 25 May 2007 (UTC) :By the way, I was listening to the first few episodes of the radio show the other day. They're appalling! -- Danny (talk) 21:41, 25 May 2007 (UTC) ::I really want to hear the last two episodes, where Flash and gang crash into a jungle, startling Jungle Jim and his native sidekick, who coincidentally have also run into a missionary and his wife. The missionary marries Flash and Dale, they wave bye bye, and the series is officially turned over to Jungle Jim and co. (where it would stay until 1954). And yeah, not all radio "juvenile adventure serials" can reach the standards set by The Adventures of Superman. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 21:47, 25 May 2007 (UTC) :::By the way, can you delete the Bruno Wick image? I accidentally uploaded the auction version first, and I forgot that the image system thingummy now means a longer delay on cache updates. It looks pretty bad right now, so I'd like to just re-upload with an altered file name. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 21:49, 25 May 2007 (UTC) ::::I've got the set now; I can send 'em to you. The weird thing is that they go so fast -- they're barreling through the story like they're getting paid by the mile. ::::The weirdest part is that there are these odd gaps in the story, covered by a recap narration. The first episode ends with Flash and Thun breaking up the marriage ceremony, and Flash carrying Dale underground. ::::At the beginning of the next episode, the narrator does a quick recap, and then says: "Now, we continue the story. Flash and Dale are captured by the Shark Men. Princess Aura appears, and again saves Flash, who in turn tries to free Dale. But Thun's father, searching for his princely son, captures the Princess and Flash. Rather than remain captive, the proud Aura hurls herself over the cliff, only to be caught by the terrible leaves of a constrictor plant. Flash leaps to her aid..." ::::And then the episode picks up from that point. We never hear the scenes with the Shark Men, or Thun's father, or anything. It just sort of tells us what was supposed to happen in the episode, and then picks up at a random point later. They do the same thing at the beginning of episode 3. It's unearthly. -- Danny (talk) 21:56, 25 May 2007 (UTC) :::::I think it's because they couldn't afford more than a half dozen or so actors (or less!) at a time, so they just describe what other characters have done. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 22:00, 25 May 2007 (UTC) ::::::I jumped ahead to the first Jungle Jim episode, and it's hilariously bad. Jungle Jim and Kolu have a long conversation which is recapping the thrilling adventure they just had. It's like the staff writer had an urge to write as much dialogue as possible as exposition, as opposed to action or even casual dialogue. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 22:04, 25 May 2007 (UTC)